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Subscribe to RSSWho says teachers can't make a million bucks? Deanna Jump is a first-grade teacher in Georgia who made $1 million by selling her upbeat lesson plans -- to other teachers.
She’s now among 15,000 teachers nationwide to cash in on their creativity by promoting original materials through TeachersPayTeachers (TpT), an online marketplace to help educators share and sell resource materials, site founder Paul Edelman says.
Edelman characterizes his site "sort of like an eBay or an Etsy for lesson plans, units, activities, projects, exams, PowerPoints, smartboard activities."
He started the site in 2006 as a way for teachers to help teachers -- and earn some extra cash. "Even if a teacher is just making an extra $50 a month, it's a significant boost to their meager salaries," Edelman said in an email to NBC News, adding "our sellers find great pride in the fact that other teachers are using their ideas in classrooms around the country and world."
Today, the site has about 1.1 million registered members and has earned about $14 million so far, Edelman told NBC News.
"It’s a place where teachers who love curriculum development can open up shop and sell their materials to teachers who thrive on delivery more than creation. It’s symbiotic and elegant," said Edelman, a former New York middle school English teacher who now lives in Fontainebleau, France.
In August, the company grossed $2.5 million in sales, up from $305,000 the year before. Teachers pay $59.95 for an annual premium membership fee to sell materials on the site, with the agency taking a 15 percent cut of most sales, according to Businessweek.
Similar sites are popping up on the Internet: WeAreTeachers, another online community for teachers allows educators to chat and exchange ideas and win cash and prize and Udemy, a site for online classes, recently announced 10 of its teachers had earned a combined $1.6 million over the last year, according to TechCrunch.
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Jump never dreamed of raking in the cash, she told Businessweek last month. For years, the 43-year-old educator and her husband, also a teacher, struggled financially, barely making enough to pay the bills in their town of Macon, Ga. She teaches at Central Fellowship Christian Academy, where she earns about $55,000 a year.
Attempts by NBC News to reach Jump were unsuccessful Tuesday.
She decided to use TeachersPayTeachers about three years ago after much urging from a fellow colleague.
“My units usually cover about two weeks’ worth of material,” Jump told Businessweek. “So if you want to teach about dinosaurs, you’d buy my dinosaur unit, and it has everything you need from language arts, math, science experiments, and a list of books you can use as resources. So once you print out the unit, you just have to add a few books to read aloud to your class, and everything else is there, ready to go for you.”
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Within two years, Jump earned her first million by creating 93 separate lesson plans and selling 161,000 copies for $8 each.
While she's made a hefty amount, two teachers have sales over $300,000 and 23 others have sales over $100,000, and most of that money was earned over the past 18 months, Edelman said.
Jump told Businessweek in September her new wealth hasn't changed her, or her lifestyle, but has given her a source of financial relief. She has paid for her daughter's college tuition and purchased a special van for her quadriplegic brother, she told Businessweek.
“When I realized that we could buy that van and it wouldn’t be a financial hardship for my family, that was really something,” she told Businessweek. “But we really haven’t changed our lifestyle. I drive a Kia, okay? I’m just trying to keep it real.”
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This is a great idea, maybe the teachers that are useless (aka the majority of teachers) can actually learn something from the ones that care.
I don't think the homeschoolers use lesson plans - and they do not make up "the majority of teachers"
The majority of teachers are useless? You're useless and so are your comments. Jackass. You have ZERO clue what you're talking about. Most teachers work their butts off for WAY less money than the lady in the story. Many take jobs starting in the mid 20s/year, work 60 hours/week, and have tons of student loans. It is a thankless job except for the rare occasions when a thanks will make the week - neigh, month - of a teacher. They care about your kids. They take more crap than a toilet. Worthless?
I agree it's a great idea. I hope she continues to do well.
But, since she teaches at a Christian school, I'd be careful about the lesson plan about dinosaurs.
Kaleb, struck a nerve with the truth did I?
The US education system is in the toilet, i can only point blame at those that are suppose to be doing something about it. If schools were there for learning useful subjects and not just liberal indoctrination stations, then id care about your whining.
You know who cries the most about teachers being called crappy? Crappy teachers.
Assuming her husband makes 55K a year also it is hard to believe they can barely get by at 110K a year in Macon. Macon ain't Palm Beach!
I'm happy for her and this marketing vehicle, creative hard work should always pay off. Now I guess with the million they can buy a new car and house in Macon.
Trudat is correct.
Most teachers are just "fact presenters." They actually have no idea how to "TEACH," and this trend generally gets worse the higher you climb in the education ladder. As a medical student, I no longer go to class lectures. I just print the slides, the scribe notes, and then I read the textbooks for cogent explanations of disease pathophysiology and drug mechanisms. I consistently score in the 90's (whereas class averages are in the 80's) because, by not wasting my time going to class lectures, I actually have more time to really teach myself the material, something that gets harder to do when you waste 8 hrs a day listening to some Idiot in front of the class rambling and not understanding anything.
Teachers are not crappy, kids have crappy parents who don't get involved sometimes to know if their kid even shows up to school. I think this teacher is great and she must be doing something right to sell her knowledge. Good job!
Yeah, I'm not whining - you're just an idiot. Calling teachers worthless in the first post of the entire thread - now that's whining.
The U.S. education system actually has shown improvement virtually every year for decades. Sadly, it is not framed that way. We see stats that show all of these other countries ahead of the U.S. in math and science and believe that this is an indicator that the education system is in shambles. In reality, there are several factors behind this. First, nearly every country (not all) ranked ahead of the U.S. don't provide education to everyone. They selectively educate and test. All American students are tested, which puts a significant handicap when compared to societies, such as China, that only educate - and then test - a select group.
Second, there have not been common standards - until now. 46 states got together (on their own, with no poking, prodding, or input from the feds) and came up with Common Core standards. That will only improve things more.
Teachers teach better today than ever. Go into any classroom. I doubt you've been in one since you were in school... Hands-on activities, real-world projects, Socratic seminars, jigsaw lessons, tons of primary sources, etc. - none of this was widespread just a decade or so ago. Today's schools put to shame the schools of the 1960s, 70s, 80, and 90s. Absolutely to shame.
Liberal indoctrination stations? The U.S. is behind other countries in science and then places like Texas don't even want evolution or global climate change mentioned in the classroom. Sounds like right-wing indoctrination to me.
I guess tru..do you believe the world is flat? Or global warming is a fad.. I guess many of your ilk will be voting Romney in November lol.. Nice philosophy to be academically competitive internationally. lol you righties are such a joke not even worth debating.
Teachers are just highly paid talking heads.
2+2=4 at Harvard or sitting on a toilet reading the textbook.
Kaleb, next time teachers go on strike make sure it's for the kid and not for more protection so you don't get fired, more money, most teachers start out at $25, 000.00 a year fool first year they get raises something most others haven't seen in a couple of years. Chicago 17% 3 years $40,000 to $70,000.00. Try teaching and doing your own school plan not paying someone else to do it for you, students get a failing grade for that, so should you and expelled, you should get fired, your educated their not.
You beat me to it, On It. Since when does a family "barely get by" on $55K per year, much less $110K? The average income for a family of four in the USA is $50K. How many flat panel TVs, boats, cars, etc., does this family own?
bubba - try "you're educated, they're not". You post is an excellent example of just how poorly educated people are in this country, and it isn't necessarily the fault of the teachers. The students have to want to learn, and you apparently could have cared less, if and when you went to school.
A lot of districts do not give raises for the first 4 years.
It may be hard for some to believe that they have a hard time living off of 110k a year, but it's not that hard. We don't know how much of that goes to helping her disabled brother, or how much are they currently paying back to get out of the financial hole that their student loans created.
Anyone who has family members in special needs knows how quickly the cost of their care can be hard on just about any working salary.
Try explaining that to the liberal party who wants to over tax anyone, including small businesses, that make over $250k a year. Oh right, that argument is irrelevant to them, because any household or business making over $250 k is consider a billionaire to a liberal.
The rest of the bunch of you union teachers trying to make an argument, the US is in the toilet in education world wide, this woman/teacher is actually not the typical union socialist; in other words, she is better than you, stop riding her coattails.
As a teacher I DARE you to do my job. If you can't then shut up. If you are able to read this then it is because one of those "useless" teachers that you had. Also, genius, NEWSFLASH: The state of our educational system has nothing to with the teachers and everything to do with pointy-headed beaurocrats and politicians making rules and laws about education when they have never so much as set foot inside of a classroom since they were students. It is also because of idiots who have no clue what is going on in the educational system pontificating about what's wrong with it. Give us some statistics that PROVE teachers are useless.
Teaching is rather time consuming. Only teaching 48 students in two lab sections at a university takes up way more than the slotted 20 hours a week they pay if if we are doing everything we should be. Also it's not just a 8-5 type of job, extends way past the hours we set for class and office hours. Think it is more laziness from the bulk of educators out there that make bad name for those of us that actually care.
scales67, good post but you have an error also. I've been busted for using it too. The correct term is "and you apparently couldn't have cared less." :0)
The private schools must pay more, I have a son that is a teacher in one of the counties in GA & he doesn't make near 55k a yr.
learned to yodel...give lesson's and get rich...lesson one...http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=AWhMLfnlYIc&feature=endscreen
Wow she and her spouse can barely make ends meet and she pulls in over 55,000 a year teaching. Either they live wayyyyyyy beyond their means or haven't a clue how to budget. My retired military spouse and I make far less than that and manage to have a nice life style. Sick of teachers complaining about how much they make. Most make more than the average person, and for only 9 months a year.
deleted and moved to a reply
Kaleb, ignore Trudat, he's what we call a Troll. Looking for attention with lies, misinformation and bullying tactics. He'd never say those things to another person's face. He hides behind his keyboard, swelling with pride for every sucker he lures in.
The fact is public schools are graduating more kids with higher test scores than ever before, the US graduates more poor students than any other country - there are statistics to back that up. "Schools are failing" is well funded rhetoric by the Right to change to for-profit privatization of schools.
I'm glad this teacher found a way to supplement her income, of course most of the best teachers just share their best plans for free on many sites. So if you're a teacher, try a free site for plans first. Be sure you know exactly what you're paying for otherwise.
I agree. Had to get sucked in! ... and while I should have been planning a lesson at that! Ah, how to get my special ed 10th graders to truly understand the concept of ancient civilizations and what makes a society a 'civilization'...
You ever been to Chicago???? Keep drinking the Kool Aid! We the People know what are children are learning and who they are learning it from and it's not teachers!!!
Lived there, so yeah - I've been.
Now I get it your a special Ed teacher I've met a couple of you Your the superior teacher. God help those children, first they need a civilized teacher. Not one who thinks they are their superior, but one who understands they have special needs.
Then you know the graduation rate is less then you STATE!! YOU LIE and your a teacher of special ed students?????
Bubba: You are really amazing. Your post if filled with worn out phrases like "Drink the Kool Aid" and We the People", but you don't actually make a point or present an argument, except when you shoot down your own statement that Kaleb must be a special ed teacher.
Congratulations dude, you won an argument with yourself.
Hey Bubba,
It is our children not "are children" and You are a teacher of special ed students???, not "your a teacher". I guess you have many reasons to be angry at the education that you evidently missed.
Yeah, Bubba... I never stated graduation rates... Apparently you need some reading comprehension skills. Probably should have been in some SPED classes.
Bubba - 87% of the students attending Chicago Public Schools are on free lunch programs. They get little parent support at home. About the ONLY people teaching the kids are the teachers - it's sure not the parents!
Hey wait a minute....They didn't build that!
Edleman calls teachers salaries meager?For the amount of months that they work they are being fairly compensated.This teacher though is one creative individual.She's making her American dream happen instead of blaming the government for not being one of the 1%.
In Missouri, the state had to pass a law a few years ago setting a minimum salary of $25k for teachers because many towns were paying 18 or so. 14.5% is mandatory to go into retirement. That is leaving a monthly paycheck of about $1,500 with a 25k salary. Teachers do not take the summer off as many believe. They take some time, sure... But they are working after school ends and go back a couple of weeks before school begins. They work an average of 55 hours a week during the school year. They are contracted for about 8.5 hours/day, and most stay an extra hour or two working with students or on plans, work in the evenings grading papers at home, and many come in on Saturday or Sunday to get work done. They flex their time. While you may think they don't work as much because of that time off in the summer, they are working a ridiculous amount of hours during the school year.
There you teachers go again, money, money, money!!! Poor old us we have to work to get paid!
I suppose you'd work for free bubba?
Bubba is the ultimate troll. Or he's actually trying to make a sarcastic point on behalf of teachers.
Often, the time off during the summer is spent going back to college for extra classes and seminars, going on field trips to get more information for school classes, and teaching summer school and tutoring.
In my little town, however, where students were expected to graduate from high school and the boys were to go work in the logging industry or work in the lumber mill, and the girls were to be stay-at-home moms, the teachers pumped gas, worked at the saw mill, and painted houses.
I worked 50 to 60 hours/week, 50 weeks a year for a salary below that. I supervised 30 people. I also taught classes at night.
I have yet to see an article that actually confirms a salary number for a teacher that would convince me that teaching is underpaid. I have a postgraduate degree and know many, many college grads with years of experience in a variety of jobs from administration to zoologist who make less money. And yes, I had to produce much of my own teaching material, and I was highly rated as a teacher by both my dean and my students.
One! Thank you! I still don't believe you???? Maybe you did it one year. Only a 2 week vacation ya right! Maybe you love your work that much, but you don't love your family!!!
Bubba,
I said I taught classes at night. I worked as an editor during the day. Besides that, I said that I believe teachers are not underpaid in comparison to a host of other jobs filled by workers with degrees. However, I congratulate the teacher in the article on her entrepreneurial skill.
Sorry your teachers didn't do a better job on your reading level, but it isn't always the teacher's fault. Maybe you would like to hire me, since your grammar and syntax need work.
Sherrie,
Bubba's a troll, like the ones who live under bridges and harass goats. Trolls are known for not being able to read very well, possibly because their eyes aren't used to light, or maybe it's because they don't have much in the line of reading material, as they only get what is thrown over the railing. Their view of the world is rather limited, as they stay put and wait for their food to come to them.
Sherrie - the VERY Consersative magazine Forbes analyzed the numbers and says that teaching -including benefits- is the 3rd lowest paying profession requiring a 4-year college degree and it requires 300 more hours of work than the average job. Note that in most districts teachers start out earning LESS than the district's starting sanitation workers. That was and is true in Anne Arundel County, Maryland when I became a teacher, taking a 25% cut from my industrial pay. Note starting teachers begin making $30K+ and it usually takes them about 15 years to get up to the average full-time worker's salary.
Sherrie, I also taught at the college level. You think that compares in any way at all with teaching children? It does NOT. You seem to make a lot of assumptions without doing much investigation.
I'm married to a teacher. Apparently a major flaw was missed in the story and comments. Teachers are required to have bachelor's degrees, have done 6 months of student teaching in a classroom being observed by a veteran teacher and undergo more observations by their professors. In addition, teachers in some states are required to obtain a Master's Degree within a time frame set by their state's standards. I would like to know why a teacher would pay money to buy lesson plans when after 4 - 6 yrs. of college/university they SHOULD KNOW how to write their OWN lesson plan and how to instruct their students as well as engage them to think smarter, understand the material and pass state exams. For those teachers that need to purchase lesson plans, they should not be teaching in the 1st place. I would not want my kids in that classroom, period.
Well good teachers should be required to be EDUCATED!!!!! To the MAX!! They should be required to do their own work and know their own work and do their job! They should also be educated in HOW TO TEACH!
This is not her property to sell. You can't work for intel and get paid to design a microchip, then design your own chip on the weekends. She stole public property as did every other teacher participating in the sales without an agreement with the public.
That is completely inaccurate. If you were correct, no professor at a public university could ever publish a book.
Actually most universities encourage their profs to do research and write books, often making it part of the contract, because it will bring notoriety to the university to attract grants and students. Less can be said of k-12 teachers and it is doubtful that their contracts stipulate that they are allowed to sell what is in essence property of the school.
Good for her. She found a way to make a bunch of money without ripping people off. She's actually improving people's lives while getting wealthy. She deserves a special place in the afterlife when her time on earth is finished.
She took a million dollars from her fellow teachers. She is now part of the 1% and should have the money taken to help fund further government spending.
Since private schools are usually not monitored by the state nor required to take state-standardized assessments, they have FAR more flexibility with plans and classroom instruction.
These lesson plans would probably not work in most public school districts. I have been teaching 5th grade for 11 years in Southern California and every district I know requires teachers to use the district approved curriculum and pacing guides. Also, every public school principal is going to be checking lesson plans to ensure that the state standards are being met and teachers are planning their lessons to make sure that ALL essential standards are taught BEFORE the state-standardized test. My principal has been using the term "Core Curriculum Fidelity" nonstop this year to make sure teachers are using their instructional minutes "wisely". I spend several hours each week on lesson plans, but it would be difficult for me to sell any lesson plans since the "core" materials explicitly belong to SRA, Houton Mifflin, or Hampton Brown.
Most of you making rude comments about teachers usually have no clue what you are talking about. Public school teachers have FAR more educational requirements placed on them by the state. I have an Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, the required state assessments (CSET and RICA), an additional year to "clear" my teaching credential, completed two years of BITSA internship, as well as two years of additional training to teach ELD students. I know several private schools that only require their teachers to have an General Ed. Bachelor's without a teaching credential or any of the state teacher assessments.
I substitute in the local public schools, and there is a scripted reading program that the Educational Assistants must follow that is absolutely rancid it's so boring, and yet its selling point is that it's supposed to be successful to almost the same percentage as voters for Saddam Hussein in October, 2002.
Teachers can't afford to buy lesson plans!! LOL
But you can retire at 50. Something screwed up when a teacher costs the taxpayer more in retirement than when they're "working"
Where is the taxpayer paying for the retirement of a teacher? Teachers don't pay into social security, and the only money they could draw from SS is a small fraction of what they paid in while working in the private sector.
Struggling on $55k a year, plus husband works maybe earning a similar salary? I would hazard these 2 are living well beyond their means. I would love to see whats parked in their driveway (and the house the driveway is attached to). If they are stuggling because of medical or educational debt, then I back off.
If she and her husband have been helping her brother to have a better quality of life, then I back off too. Otherwise, that $55K is plenty in my book.
Can I volunteer to struggle to get by on $55,000 a year in a college town?
Congrats. Now we can replace teachers with classroom administrators : let's save some $$$$
She teaches at a Christian school in Georgia. Does her dinosaur unit have them with Adam and Eve the Garden? That might be a waste of money.
Here is a thought. Go spend the $8 and buy the lesson plan and then come back and let the rest of us know. At least, then you can say that you have a clue what you are talking about.
Wow. I see a lot of comments from people who are definitely NOT teachers.... For the people who think we should be "creative enough" to write our own plans, most of us are, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't like new ideas or strategies, because that's how we learn. Knowing you don't know everything, and can learn from someone else, is key for becoming a better teacher.
For those criticizing this woman's lifestyle and alleging that she lives "beyond her means," you realize that the struggling comment wasn't a quote, right? And there could be significant medical debt or loans to be paid off, and the media is known to distort the facts to produce a better story.
Finally, anyone who says teachers "don't teach" isn't aware of the restrictions we face. In my school system, everything is so regulated (such as our reading and math programs) that we don't have the room for creativity. We HAVE to use these books, and these restrictions are at both state and federal level. The major problem in education is that the people making the rules are the people who have never spent even an hour in a teacher's shoes. They don't just say, "Okay, tell em stuff about numbers and read some books." In addition to lesson planning (yes, we have to have proof that we "planned" the lesson that we are required to teach from the book, including state/national standards, learning objectives, procedures, and assessments) teachers have morning/afternoon duties, receipt books to handle, constant testing/grading/data compilation, helicopter parents, absent parents, neglected/abused kids, kids of their own, and their own well-being. I'm a certified teacher working as an aide right now, and we live in constant exhaustion. Before you go bashing an entire profession, you better have experience or facts to back it up (and not just one example), or be willing to step in and give the job a try yourself.
Isn't it wonderful in Obama's world? Every bodies so friendly and supportive, we're all so equal.
Democrats, the party of victims.
How can this woman sell her lesson plans. Don't those lesson plans belong to the school district she works for? If I work for a company and develop something for that company I can't turn around and sell it on the open market. It belongs to the company not me.
That depends on the conditions under which you write the lesson plans. If she does that on her own time and simply uses them in the classroom, what she's doing is fine. If she were paid specifically to write lesson plans for the county, then she likely could not sell them. If you wrote a novel in your spare time, would that product belong to your employer?
Writing a novel isn't related to the job. A teacher developing and writing lesson plans are part of the job no matter where they are written.
Let's see, if research universities get to keep the right to patent findings paid for with public funds, I think we can afford to let a teacher profit from her own lesson plans. Second, it sounds like she is with a private academy and I bet they are not interested in trying to control the rights to her lesson plans (of course, when they find out that she made a million with them, they might reconsider). Why do you care?
I don't know if she works for a private school or not. I care because if she is a public school teacher she is paid by taxpayer dollars and the taxpayers should benefit by reduced taxes not making their employees rich.
Perhaps you should read the article. She works for a private school. Regardless, your logic is flawed and ridiculous. She can sell them if she wants.
Yeah. You wouldn't want a teacher getting rich.
No. She is contracted to teach, not to write. She can sell what she writes. If you work for a company designing widgets then you would be correct that any widget you design you couldn't sell. However if you wrote a program, on the side, to help you design those widgets, you could sell that program. It's actually not all that uncommon for people to sell on the side, tools they developed to aid their primary jobs.
This story made me sick. Teachers should give away their plans for free! Aren't we talking about improving teaching and helping the students. After all, teachers are public servants not business people. There should be a free national database for lesson plans. There are already free lesson plans on some private and government sites. People who make money off of selling lesson plans are not true educators.
JSTA, would you be happier if she worked for free also?
Are you happy that teachers have to buy her lesson plans? She is not working for free. Part of her job is to make lesson plans. She is already being paid by her school to do so. In any other occupation it is called double dipping. Are you a teacher? Are you about improving education? There is a certain education code which needs to be made. Perhaps something similar to a Hippocratic Oath for educators.
Hmmm. That is fascinating. She gets paid to do her lesson plans. She does them. Someone else in another school district wants one, and she should give her work away. I am struggling on this...what do they call that? Oh, yeah. "Communism".
I'm glad she sells them. That means teachers who are unable to come up with their own lesson plans are using someone elses idea and teaching kids. You do realize that teachers also have to normally buy lesson plans from other places as well right? Or did you think little teacher fairies flitted from the far off land of math, language arts and science to deliver special lessons?
Homeschool teachers also have to buy lesson plans that are expensive. 8 dollars for a 2 week lesson plan is cheap.
Now that's what you call being creative in these recessive times!
She made 50k and assuming her husband made at least 50k their combined income was over 100k. How can she play the poverty card with that income? So crazy
Women working is not unique, not particularly special, and certainly not superior. With all the government special programs, perks, educational opportunities, job quotas, promotional quotas, protected class status, over the unfair focus and attention, we should be seeing some results. My mom had her own freaking business in 1952, Lucy Ricardo worked, in all the 1930 and 1940 movies, women were working and running men around like gophers and man servants. Men better wake up; you're being gamed, played, duped, and programmed. Free your mind, women hate that.
Cool, now she can get her eyes fixed.
Ah yes, teachers who love developing lesson plans. In our district they spend too much time finding the "new right way to teach".... as soon as they get something in one of the "high priced PhD's in curriculum development" starts working on the "newer" curriculum. That's the popular PhD for School Superintendents in PA... that and Educational Leadership (whatever the heck that is)... In the last 15 years we have more than a few changes in "ways to teach math"... and guess what?.... the kids still cannot do math.... maybe the "old" ways of the 50's worked the best.... after all that math developed computers and got us to the moon....